Cheney Sidesteps White House Rules

Posted on Jun 21, 2007

By Claire Wasserman

In his typically reassuring style, Dick Cheney has stated that his office is not a part of the executive branch of the U.S. government and is therefore not bound by certain White House rules. According to a new letter from the office of Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., Cheney’s office has repeatedly refused to provide details to the Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO) during routine inspections required by law. It’s comforting, however, to know that Cheney’s office did comply with the oversight office during the first two years of the George W. Bush administration. Unfortunately (and perhaps unsurprisingly), since 2003 Cheney’s office has failed to report statistics on the number of documents it has classified and declassified.

Coincidence that Cheney’s office stopped complying with the ISOO at the onset of the Iraq war? Discuss.